------------------------- Via Workers World News Service Reprinted from the Nov. 28, 2002 issue of Workers World newspaper -------------------------
NEW ASSAULT ON CIVIL LIBERTIES IN U.S.: BIG BROTHER SPIES ON IRAQIS AND "SYMPATHIZERS" By Deirdre Griswold As part of the preparation for their planned crime of an unprovoked blitzkrieg attack on Iraq, Bush administration officials have made it public that they are monitoring Iraqi citizens living in the United States and people with dual U.S.-Iraqi citizenship, and may arrest them when a war starts. The unnamed officials fed this information to the New York Times, which reported it on Nov. 17. The story was quickly reprinted in newspapers across the country. In response, Hussein Ibish, spokesperson for the American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, compared the plan to the policy that resulted in the imprisonment of thousands of Japanese Americans during World War II. "There has been a return of systematic suspicion by ethnicity, which is the first step on the road," Ibish told Reuters. "The community is exposed and people are aware of their vulnerability. The feeling is one of tremendous unease." The officials told the Times that a large number of government agencies are part of the surveillance operation. They include the Pentagon, the FBI, the CIA, the immigration service, the State Department and the National Security Agency, which eavesdrops on communications around the world. Along with monitoring any activity by Iraqis, the same unnamed officials said they plan to try to recruit Iraqis and other Arab Americans as informants to spy on their neighbors. According to the Times, the FBI will "meet with Arab-American civic leaders to explain the non-classified aspects of the operation." The Times also reports that there is discussion within the government about creating a domestic intelligence agency as part of the Homeland Security Department. While the Bush administration has initiated this new program, its officials say they released the information partly in answer to Florida Democrat Bob Graham, who, instead of coming out against the administration's war plans, has instead criticized it for allegedly failing to take aggressive steps to stop terrorism. However, the Times article admits that no Iraqis have been accused of terrorism in the United States--not during the present war drive or even when the U.S. was waging the Gulf War and bombing Iraq every day in 1991. Thus leading figures in both capitalist parties are making a concerted assault on human and political rights within the United States. Meanwhile the Bush administration rides roughshod over normal rules of international behavior in its plans to invade Iraq. This totally illegal and unconstitutional spying on individuals just because of their nationality is another example of the police-state practices introduced through the USA Patriot Act. The timing of this release makes it only too clear that this move is intended to silence opposition to the criminal war now being readied against Iraq. It is part of the media myth here that all Iraqis are praying for the U.S. to invade their country. Washington doesn't want Iraqis here to be seen publicly opposing the war. San Diego's Iraqi community is the second largest in the U.S. Many of those who have been given U.S. visas are political opponents of the Baghdad government. Nevertheless, the Union-Tribune reported on Nov. 18 that "sympathizers" with Iraq--it didn't say if they were Iraqis or North Americans--"tore down announcements of an anti-Hussein, pro- war protest last month" and were then reported to the FBI by pro-war elements in the community. The New York Times article reported that the government's dragnet will be extended to "Iraq sympathizers if they are believed to be planning domestic terrorist operations." Politically, this is an attempt to demonize and silence anyone who might sympathize with the Iraqi people for the suffering that the criminal administration in Washington plans to inflict on them. - END - (Copyright Workers World Service: Everyone is permitted to copy and distribute verbatim copies of this document, but changing it is not allowed. For more information contact Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011; via e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe [EMAIL PROTECTED] Support the voice of resistance http://www.workers.org/orders/donate.php) ------------------ This message is sent to you by Workers World News Service. To subscribe, E-mail to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To unsubscribe, E-mail to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To switch to the DIGEST mode, E-mail to <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Send administrative queries to <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
